Service programs to help families in everyday life

Stuttgart – September 12, 2007

Robert Bosch Stiftung and the German Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth are dedicated to increasing the role of families as employers and beneficiaries of family support services. The aim is to help young people reconcile the demands of their jobs with those of their families. Family support services are essential to making this possible. The "Unternehmen Familie" program includes a competition, whose initiators are looking for innovative ideas for a broad spectrum of services. The closing date is October 15, 2007.

"Unternehmen Familie – Innovationen durch familienunterstützende Dienstleistungen:" Robert Bosch Stiftung and the German Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth are inviting project outlines for services to assist families, such as fetch-and-carry services, domestic help, shopping, running errands, daycare, and services for people in need of care. The best projects will receive sponsorship of up to 150,000 euros. The program has a budget of 1.8 million euros. Its patron is Minister of Family Affairs Ursula von der Leyen.

PLEASE PUBLISH NEW CLOSING DATE FOR ENTRIES: To give good ideas the chance to receive sponsorship, they can now be submitted to the competition office at IFOK GmbH until October 15, 2007. Municipalities, service agencies, businesses, entrepreneurs, independent sponsors and sponsors' associations, representatives of the housing industry, business associations, and public-private partnerships are invited to submit their project proposals. We are looking for effective business ideas for family support services at the local level. The 12 best projects will be announced in spring of 2008.

A vision for Germany: Imagine that it was normal and affordable to outsource household tasks – that are usually performed every day by family members - to service providers. For working mothers and fathers, it is a great help to have a reliable transport service take the children from the daycare center to their music lessons. When services like this take the form of new cooperative ventures involving municipalities, service agencies, associations, private households and others, the result is an impressive growth potential for new jobs. The family support services of the future will not only be quickly and easily available in residential neighborhoods, but will also be bookable on an hourly basis – in the same high quality and with the same reliability.

"Unternehmen Familie" is a Robert Bosch Stiftung program sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth and the European Union / European Social Fund.